Wild New Toyota GRMN Hybrid Concept II at Nürburgring

Toyota will use this weekend’s Nürburgring 24-hour endurance race to unveil its latest effort at moving hybrid technology into the performance-vehicle arena.

The GRMN Hybrid Concept II is a sports convertible co-developed by Gazoo Racing. It is a slightly modified version of the gasoline-electric concept Toyota showed last year at the Tokyo Auto Salon.

Toyota launched the Prius hybrid car in 1997 and has since been researching ways to bring the technology into sports-car development.

The new GRMN concept weighs 3,300 pounds and has a gasoline-powered V6 engine positioned mid-vehicle–a move Toyota says should improve performance and stability. An electric motor powers the front wheels of the all-wheel-drive system and contributes 50 hp to the combined 295-hp output.

But it’s still a concept–we don’t expect to see this car on the road any time soon.